Clutch.



'A. B. & H. R. NUTTING.

CLUTCH.

APPLICAUON FILED Dsc. 29. |915.

Patented Jan. 28, .1919'.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED B. NUTTING AND HARVEY R. NUTTING, 0F AMESBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

CLUTCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

To 'all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, ALFRED B. NUTTING and HARVEY R. NUTTING, citizens of the United States, and both residents of Amesbury, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Clutches, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts in each of the several views.

This invention relates to clutches of a friction type well adapted for use as pulley clutches. One prime object of the invention is to provide a friction clutch for pullleys and other uses, with improved opera-ting connections whereby the clutch is adapted to be engaged andl disengaged with a small exertion of force, thus making ,the same more convenient for hand operation. A further object is to provide an improved and simplified construction and aggroupment of parts whereby a strong, serviceable, and efficient clutch mechanism may be produced cheaply and readily from cast iron or other cast metal. To this end in the preferred embodiment shown we provide a pocket member formed as a one piece casting adapted to be set into the pulley fiange with strut members working in said pocket and constituting part of a toggle or knuckle operating mechanism for effecting a powerful clamping action Ibetween the clutch members, that is at the same time easily broken and released with a small exertion of force. In accordance with our invention the connection from this strut and toggle device to the manually engageable member is preferably through a link having substantially right angle relation with its coperative members when the parts are in clutching position. A still further object has to do with improved means whereby the Jfriction pulley including our improved clutch device may be readily applied to shafts of varying sizes. The foregoing and other objects and features of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings and will be thereafter pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings: l Figure 1 shows in central lengthwise section on line 1-1 of Fig. 2 a friction pulley equipped with our improved clutchf mechanism;

Fig. 2 is an end view thereof with the shaft in section looking from the left in Fig. 1 with a part broken away;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section on line 3 3 0f Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view partly in elevation and partly in section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1. y

The pulley to which the clutch of the present invention is shown applied, is indicated at 10, with spokes 11 joining its hub 12, there being a radial flange plate 1S preferably integral with said hub at one end of the pulley to constitute the clutch face of the pulley. A shaft to which the pulley is fitted is indicated at 14. A sleeve 15 keyed or otherwise secured to this shaft, has at its inner end spaced apart projections 16 constituting shoulders engageable with fiange projections 17 on a clutch plate 18. 1t will be noted that in assembling the parts the clutch plate 18 may be slipped over the sleeve 15 from the outer end and the flange projections 17 slipped to place between the projections 16 of the sleeve and the pulley then also slipped over the sleeve from the outer end. The parts sov assembled are held in place by a cap 19 which is fitted over the end of the shaft and secured to sleeve 15. In this way it will be noted, when the pulle)v with the clutch mechanism is to be applied to shafts of different sizes, this can readily be done, merely by selecting a sleeve 15 of the proper internal diameter to fit the shaft. a stock of these sleeves of the same external diameter but varying internaldiameters for different sizes of shafts being preferablyv kept on hand. To obtain the friction clutching pressure, the clutch member 18 is clamped between the fla-nge plate 13 and an outer plate 20` by means of a plurality, shown as two, of clamping devices connected to be actuated by a single operating l means. fAs shown at each side of the pulley an eye 'bolt 21 is passed through the outer plate 20 and through a pocket 22`with its eye 23 extending some little within the pulley and affording a bearing for an axis bolt 24 constituting a fulcrum for levers 25 I mounted at each side of said bolt, the inner ends of said levers constituting one part of a toggle device and for this purpose having concave. seats as seen at 26 to receive each a strut 27, the other end of which fits into a seat in the pocket 22 as seen at 28. The pockets 22 are each fitted into diametrically opposite recesses 29 therefor in the plate 13 being equipped With lianges 30 to engage the plate at each side of the recess and being secured ythereto by suitable means shown as screw bolts 31. The outer ends of the levers 25 Which are of some little length are preferably bent in so as to come together as seen at 32 and their extremities are pivotally connected at 33 with Ia link 34, the other end of which is pvotally engaged as seen at 35 With a collar 36 slidably fitted on the hub 12. This collar as shown yhas 'an annular 4recess 37 to receive a ring 38 inturned from an operating handle 39. This hair dle 39 may, for all ordinary sizes of Wheels, bedirectly operated by the hand, since as will be apparent, relatively little power is required to operate tlie'clutch. A lever connection l() may, if desired, be provided, having a pin and slot engagement ll With the handle, this lever being fulerum'e'd at 4t2. It Will be noted that with our improved construction, the link members 3i may be so formed and disposed 'with relation to the levers 25 and the collar '36 that they are substantially at right angles to said levers and also to the direction of collar movement .as the parts approach and reach clutching position, 2'. el., as the toggle formed by the struts 27 is straightened as sli'oi'v'n. Thus :great clutching power is attained `and it is at the same time possible to release the clutch With comparatively little exertion since both `the toggle members :and the links 34: are `in the most favorable lposition yfor actuation, e., they are in "that position Where an impulse on the actu-ating handle exerts the greatest `possible leverage. It Will be understood that in order to obtain this easy Vactuation of the parts Within the essential small li-mits, v1. e., just atthe Aclutching position, they must be nicely adjusted. since only a small variation in the posi-tion of the fulcrum points, c. g., of the fulcrum pins 24 would seriously interfere With the desired object. To obtain this correct adjustment the bolts 2l ,have their projecting ends lthreaded to receive nuts 43. These nuts may be turned to bring the fulcrum pin's24- to approximately correct adjustment`r and to obtain a more .precise adjustment. Spanner plates 44 are fitted to'said nuts, these plates lrai'fing arcuate slots 45t() some :little length through `vvhich `are passed clamp screws 4:6. Thus by turning these spa-nner plates one Way or the other `as'found necessary by trial, the vfu'lcrum pins y24 may be set in exactly correotfposition asy found to produce best results.

It is to be noted that the `formation of the pockets .22 `as sep arate L'members inserted and held in place in' recesses therefor inthe-- Wheel flange, y'permits thesef parts toberaadl the circumference thereof, thus obtaining a'- most effective clutching engagement. We -are aware that the invention maybe enibodied in other specific forms as to its several features `and We therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, reference bei-ng' had to the appended claimsfrather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope thereof.

Having described our invention, What We claim as new and ldesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. Clutch mechanism, comp-rising driving and driven members having .each airadia-l'ly extending clutch plate, and means forl` drawing said plates into clutching engagement consisting in a rpocket removably fitted 'to one gif-said plates .adjacent the periphery thereof, a strut yfitted to operate .in said pocket, and means engageable with .theother clutch plateformed to coperate Withksaid strut to forma toggleadapted when straightened to force said yplates into clutching venga gement:

2. Clutch mechanism, comprising dmv--l infgyand driven members, each hav-ing `a radially extending friction lclutch plate, :and means for drawing said plates :togethen, said means consisting in a y.bolt .having mea-ns for engaging lone ofthe plates, a pocket [removably -set into the other plate, a strut operable `in said pocket, a lever having a fulcrum'niountingon'said-bolt and c0- operative with said strut `to form :a toggle joint, andl mea-ns for operating saidlever.

3. 'Cluftch mechanism, comprising driving and driven members havingieach a radially extending friction clutch iplate, `and r.mea-ns for Ydraw-ing said plates l'into clutch-ing iengagement, said Mnieans co'nsisting :in .a pocket separably iitted .inqone of said l plates adja'- cent theperiphery thereof, an eyebolt passing through said ypocket and .engaged `.with the other fclutchvplate, -a Apair of struts "gutted to 4move in `'sa-id pocket at each side-ofysaid eye bolt, --lever` members fful'crumed to @the eye of said eye bolt, and formingwithisaidfstrlts complementary members of a toggle, and manually 'operablemeans `for operating said lever members.

e. Clutch mechanism comprising ia, pulley having aI radially extending clutch flange,

cast iron pockets set into said flange adja.

cent the periphery thereof at equi-distant points around its periphery, strut members operative in said pockets, a flange plate adapted to be drawn into clutching engagement with said clutch flange, and means for effecting such clutching engagement consisting in bolts having an outer plate operatively associated therewith vand engageable with said flange plate and said bolts having fulcrumed thereon lever members coperat've with said struts to form toggles at each ol said pockets.

5. Clutch mechanism, comprising' driving and driven members, one thereof being a wheel with an elongated sleeve hub and a radial clutch flange extending therefrom at one end thereof, and the other member being a sleeve adapted to fit within said hub and selective as to internal diameter for fitting dierent sized shafts, said sleeve having detachably fixed thereto a clutch plate coperative with the clutch flange of said wheel, and means housed within said wheel for drawing said plate and flange into clutching engagement.

6. Clutch mechanism, comprising driving and driven members, one thereof being a wheel with an elongated hub and a clutch flange extending radially therefrom, and the other member being a sleeve loosely fitted within said hub and adapted to be detaehably secured to a shaft, having a clutch plate detachably fitted thereto adapted to coperate with said clutch flange of the wheel whereby such sleeve with a bore as required for a particular shaft may be selected, and toggle operated means for drawing said clutch plate and clutch Bange of the wheel into clutching engagement, said means having an operating collar slidable 0n said wheel hub.

7. Clutch mechanism, comprising clutch plates adapted to be drawn together in clutchin engagement, and means for drawing sa1d plates together consisting in a bolt having pivoted thereto at one end a toggle mech: anism engageable with one of said plates, a slidably mounted operating member having a link connected to said toggle, said toggle and link being formed so that the link is approximately at right angles to the direction of movement of said operating member when said toggle is straightened, and means for effecting a minutely accurate adjustable engagement of said bolt with the other clutch plate, said means consisting in a nut fitted to the bolt and having a Spanner member engaged therewith with provision for clamping in variable definite positions.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specioation, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED B. NUTTING. HARVEY R. NUTTING.

Witnesses:

H. M. GIFFIN, V. M DAVENPORT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ave cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ot Patents, Washington, D. U." 

